During the 2011 legislative session Florida lawmakers decreased the number of early voting days from 14 to 8. Even before Election Day, critics filed a lawsuit against the state calling that decrease “discriminatory”, and even though some have said the case should be delayed, a federal judge says the case will continue.
Federal Judge Timothy Corrigan denied the state’s motion on Friday to delay the voter discrimination case brought by U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown. Chris Cate with the Florida Department of State, said the case shouldn’t be heard until after lawmakers debate the issue once again.
"We asked for a delay because it made sense, considering any legislative decisions are going to impact the case," Cate said.
But, even without the delay, Cate said, the case won’t be decided until long after this year's legislative session. Representative Brown argues that the decrease in amount early voting days disenfranchises African American voters. As of yet, no trial date has been set, however pretrial disclosures and interviews are set to begin in late February and be complete by September.
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